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Instagram’s Threads: all the updates on the new Twitter competitor

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As Twitter continues to flail about under Elon Musk, all eyes are on the newly launched Instagram Threads as a potential replacement. Meta launched Threads on iOS, Android, and the web on July 5th — a little bit ahead of schedule.

Two days in, Mark Zuckerberg said Threads has registered over 70 million accounts, and it’s still growing.

In an interview about Threads with The Verge, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri explains why the platform wants to take on Twitter. “Obviously, Twitter pioneered the space,” Mosseri says. “And there are a lot of good offerings out there for public conversations. But just given everything that was going on, we thought there was an opportunity to build something that was open and something that was good for the community that was already using Instagram.”

Rumors about the new Meta-owned platform were swirling for months, with a March report from Platformer revealing the company was “exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates.” In June, Alex Heath leaked the details of a companywide meeting where the app was shown off and shared the first glimpse at Threads.

Threads is “Instagram’s text-based conversation app” where “communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow.” The app is closely tied to Instagram, meaning you’ll get to use the same username across both apps as well as quickly follow all of the accounts you’ve been following on Instagram.

  • Instagram’s current leader asks a question of its co-founder.

    Adam Mosseri asked about Artifact supporting publishers in a post on Threads — so my colleague Alex Heath asked him in an audience question.

    “We’ve tried to come at this from a publisher friendly perspective,” Mike Krieger said. Artifact thrives if the publisher ecosystem “is healthy and thriving,” so that approach is a long-term play.

    “It’s about recognizing what needs to exist several years from now for you to have a viable product,” Krieger said


  • Meta says Threads account deletion is coming this year.

    Soon after Meta’s Instagram-based Twitter competitor launched, some of the millions of people who activated Threads noticed a small issue. Once you create an account on Threads, the only way to delete it is to delete your Instagram account, too.

    However, Meta chief privacy officer Michel Protti said during the TechCrunch Disrupt event that Meta will launch individual deletion for Threads accounts by December. Another situation it’s working on handling is fediverse support for situations like “what happens when a Threads post goes to another server and is then deleted by the author.”


  • Emma Roth

    Sep 26

    Emma Roth

    Threads is struggling to retain users — but it could still catch up to X

    An image showing the Threads logo
    Image: The Verge

    Threads, Instagram’s X (formerly Twitter) competitor, is struggling to keep users around following its blockbuster launch, according to data from Insider Intelligence. The data, which was first reported on by CNBC, suggests that Threads will have far fewer monthly active users than Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok by the end of this year, but it may still have a chance to close the gap with X.

    Insider Intelligence indicates that Threads will have 23.7 million active monthly users in the US by the end of 2023. That’s far fewer than what’s expected for Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, which Insider Intelligence says could have 177.9 million, 135.2 million, and 102.3 million respective US active monthly users by the end of 2023.

    Read Article >
  • Threads might be getting an edit button soon

    An image showing the Threads logo
    Illustration: The Verge

    Meta’s in-development edit button for Threads might let you edit posts within five minutes of publishing them, as reported by developer Alessandro Paluzzi on X (formerly Twitter). Instagram chief Adam Mosseri confirmed shortly after the app’s July launch that an edit button was on the list of potential features, and now that Paluzzi has discovered some details about it, perhaps the feature will be available more widely sometime soon.

    An edit button is one of the things I think Threads is missing most, so I’m happy to see this shred of evidence that Meta might be closer to actually launching it. Meta didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment when I asked for details about potential timing, but I’m also optimistic that we’ll see the edit button sooner rather than later. In the couple months since the app’s launch, Meta has knocked out low-hanging fruit like a following feed, a web client, and the ability to search for posts.

    Read Article >
  • Threads on the web now has a notification dot.

    Sometime Wednesday morning, Threads on the web started showing a little red dot over the notifications tab. The notification dot had been a big omission to the web experience, so I’m glad Meta added it in.


    A screenshot showing the Threads navigation bar on the web.
    Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge
  • Threads now lets you quote posts on the web

    Illustration of the Threads app logo
    Illustration: The Verge

    I was thrilled when Threads finally launched on the web in August, but I quickly found that it was missing one important feature: you couldn’t quote posts, only repost them. (In X / Twitter lingo, that translates to quote tweet and retweet.) But that’s now changing, as Instagram Adam Mosseri said Thursday that quote posts on the web were rolled out this week.

    To quote a post, just click the two arrows icon and then click the “quote” option.

    Read Article >
  • Threads on the web might be getting quote posts soon.

    Adam Mosseri says he tested the feature out on Wednesday for a quote post. Quote posts are one of the biggest omissions from the Threads web experience, so I’m really hoping it launches soon.

    Now we just need Threads to not default to the “For You” feed every time I open it up.


  • Threads doesn’t show anything when you search for “covid.”

    Meta’s Threads just got proper search, but Taylor Lorenz at The Washington Post found that it doesn’t show results for some terms related to covid and vaccines as well as terms like “sex,” “nude,” and “gore.”

    From the piece:

    “The search functionality temporarily doesn’t provide results for keywords that may show potentially sensitive content,” the statement said, adding that the company will add search functionality for terms only “once we are confident in the quality of the results.” 

    That said, as my colleague Wes Davis found, as you’re typing in terms like “covid” or “covid-19,” you might see a prompt pointing you to the CDC’s website. But if you hit enter to search for those terms directly, the results page will still be blank.

    Update September 11th, 8:37PM ET: Added details about CDC prompt.


  • Threads will now let you search for posts

    An image showing the Threads logo
    Illustration: The Verge

    Instagram’s Threads is rolling out the ability to search through posts more widely. In a post on the platform, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the feature is rolling out in “most” English- and Spanish-speaking countries with more to come soon.

    In a statement to The Verge, Meta spokesperson Seine Kim confirmed that the feature is coming to both the US and the UK, and is also rolling out on the platform’s web app. Threads first started testing the feature in Australia and New Zealand in August, which lets you search through the platform’s posts based on a specific keyword. Previously, Threads only let you search through users.

    Read Article >
  • Emma Roth

    Aug 31

    Emma Roth

    Threads will soon let you search through posts

    An image showing the Threads logo
    Image: The Verge

    Threads, the X (formerly Twitter) competitor created by Meta, is working on a way to search through posts using keywords, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced.

    You can see how Threads’ new search feature might work in the image embedded below. While your search for a specific keyword will pull people up with that username (as it does now), pressing the “search” button will expand your search to all the posts containing that keyword. This makes it seem like a simplified version of Instagram’s search feature.

    Read Article >
  • Sign of the times: Phil Schiller posting about an Apple event on Threads.

    Apple’s Phil Schiller deleted his Twitter account a while ago and then quietly joined Threads when it launched. He’s now posted about the just-announced September event on Meta’s platform, which you are free to interpret any way you wish.


  • Meta really wants you to know that it’s going to do fediverse stuff on Threads.

    I saw this post from Dare Obasanjo highlighting Meta’s on-Threads message about its commitment to the fediverse. You can see the message yourself by going to somebody’s profile and clicking the “threads.net” bubble.

    Meta has already taken a small fediverse step, and I’m looking forward to seeing the eventual support for platforms like Mastodon. It can be the new thing we all beg for now that web Threads is live.


  • Meta knows some features are missing from Threads on the web.

    “This is an early v1,” Tom Bender, a PM on the Threads team, said in a post. “We’re painfully aware of the feature gaps and it’s going to improve quickly.”


  • Threads on the web seems to be rolling out widely.

    A bunch of my colleagues at The Verge have just gotten access, so check threads.net to see if you can post from the web, too. I should warn you that the web app isn’t quite as robust as the mobile app — there’s no notification dot when you have notifications! — but it works well enough.


  • Threads on the web is here

    An image showing the Threads logo
    Image: The Verge

    Meta is finally launching a much more capable web app for Threads, the company announced on Tuesday. You’ll be able to post, interact with other posts, and look at your feed, spokesperson Christine Pai tells The Verge. As of Thursday, the web version is live for everyone, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a post.

    At first, Threads on the web was essentially a glorified way to look at somebody’s profile — you couldn’t even like or reshare a post even though the web app included the buttons to do so. (If you clicked them, Threads would show you a QR code to download the mobile app.) The new desktop web interface looks a lot like the one in the mobile app, though with some small differences; the navigation icons are on the top of the page, and to switch between the For You and Following feeds, you’ll click a button in the bottom-left corner.

    Read Article >
  • Wes Davis

    Aug 21

    Wes Davis

    Meta may launch a Threads web version early this week

    An image showing the Threads logo
    Illustration: The Verge

    Meta will launch the web version of Threads, its competitor to X (formerly known as Twitter) early this week, reports The Wall Street Journal. A web version has been frustratingly missing since the short-form posting service began.

    Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company is working on adding the feature along with better search (well, search at all, really — right now, you can only search for usernames on the platform) earlier this month, and that it would be ready in “the next few weeks.”

    Read Article >
  • Threads gets retweets — sorry, reposts — in the reverse-chronological feed

    An image showing the Threads logo
    Illustration: The Verge

    Threads is adding reposts (aka retweets) to its reverse-chronological “Following” feed, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced in a Threads post on Thursday. It’s a small but nice addition to the app that makes the Following feed a bit more useful, and while Mosseri said Meta added it “based on your feedback,” the Following feed does still have its flaws.

    That’s not the only repost-related update from Meta. It’s also rolling out a reposts tab on your profile so that you and others can more easily find the threads that you’ve reposted. I don’t appear to have either update yet on iOS, but I do have the reposts tab when I view my profile on the web. (I think I need to repost more.)

    Read Article >
  • Wes Davis

    Aug 13

    Wes Davis

    Instagram’s Threads has lost almost 80 percent of its daily active Android users.

    A blog post by analytics firm Similarweb says data from the Android Threads app show the social network has fallen to 10.3 million daily active Android users as of August 7th. That’s down from a July 7th peak of 49.3 million.

    Earlier this month, both Gizmodo and CNN cited Similarweb data while reporting the Threads slump. Whether Threads could still go the distance remains to be seen, but Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is keeping a positive face for investors.


  • You can now verify your Threads profile on Mastodon

    An image showing the Threads logo
    Image: The Verge

    Meta has rolled out the ability to verify a link to your Threads profile on social media platforms like Mastodon, according to a Threads post from Instagram head Adam Mosseri. To be clear, this isn’t a free way to get a blue checkmark next to your Threads name; you’ll probably need to pay Meta to get one of those. Instead, this new feature helps you prove on other platforms that a Threads profile that you link to is one that you own. But it also represents something bigger: an actual Threads feature from Meta that connects with decentralized social media.

    I got this to work in just a few minutes on my Mastodon profile, meaning that a URL to my Threads account now has a green checkmark. I’ll explain how I got this set up a bit later in this story, but for now, here’s a screenshot of what it looks like:

    Read Article >
  • Threads is getting some useful new features

    An image showing the Threads logo
    Illustration: The Verge

    Threads, Meta’s Twitter competitor, is getting some new features “this week,” according to a post from CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The new features include the ability to share a Threads post to your Instagram DMs, a way to add custom alt text to photos and videos that you include in posts, and a new “mention button” that lets you “easily mention someone’s account in your Thread,” Zuckerberg says. (For some reason, this link only works for me on mobile.)

    To share a post via Instagram DMs, tap the paper airplane-like icon on a post. To add alt text, start a post, attach photos or videos using the paperclip icon, and then tap the “Alt” button that appears on the image. I don’t appear to have the mention button — maybe I’m missing it! — but you can mention another user while drafting a post by entering the @ symbol and then typing somebody’s username or picking from one of the suggested options. And I should note that my iPhone had recently updated the Threads app, so if you’re not seeing the new features, make sure you’re on the latest version.

    Read Article >
  • Mark Zuckerberg thinks Threads could be Meta’s next social network with 1 billion users

    Mark Zuckerberg
    Photo by Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images

    Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has high hopes for Threads, his competitor to the company formerly known as Twitter.

    During Meta’s second quarter earnings call with investors on Wednesday, Zuckerberg was asked multiple times about Threads and his expectations for its long-term success. He said it’s a “weird anomaly in the tech industry that there hasn’t been an app like this for text-based convos that has reached 1 billion people,” echoing previous comments he has made both on Threads itself and during a recent interview with the podcaster Lex Fridman.

    Read Article >
  • Yes, the Threads desktop web site is coming.

    No surprise, but Adam Mosseri tells Casey Newton web Threads is indeed en route.


  • Jul 25

    Wes Davis and Jay Peters

    Threads is rolling out its Following feed

    An image showing the Threads logo
    Illustration: The Verge

    One of Instagram Threads’ most requested features is finally here: the Following tab that lets you see only the people you, er, follow. “Ask and you shall receive,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post on Threads quoting a user asking for the feature.

    For those of us who have the Following feed, we can make it appear and disappear by tapping the home icon or the Threads logo at the top of the page. Annoyingly, if you reopen the app after it fully shuts down, it reverts to the “For You” feed, meaning you’ll have to know where to look to bring the Following feed up again — whether that’s a bug or not remains to be seen.

    Read Article >
  • Emma Roth

    Jul 18

    Emma Roth

    The latest Threads update adds a ‘follows’ tab, but it doesn’t do what you’d like

    An image showing the Threads logo
    Image: The Verge

    Threads is getting a “follows” tab, but it’s not the following-only feed that users have been asking for. As outlined in this post from Threads developer Cameron Roth, the new tab lives on the app’s activity page and only lets you see a list of users who recently followed you.

    Threads previously listed your recent followers in its “all” tab on the activity page, so this isn’t that big of a change — it just makes your new followers easier to find. There are also two other filters for “quotes” and “reposts,” letting you filter recent activity by who reposted or quoted your thread.

    Read Article >
  • Five reasons Threads could still go the distance

    An image showing the Threads logo
    Illustration: The Verge

    This is Platformer, a newsletter on the intersection of Silicon Valley and democracy from Casey Newton and Zoë Schiffer. Sign up here.

    I.

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